Conventional water closets waste billions of gallons of water annually. Each time a typical toilet is flushed, at least several gallons of water are used. Such an amount is clearly excessive, particularly when only liquid waste is being flushed.
To reduce water usage, a number of toilets have been developed that employ partitioned sections for accommodating liquid and solid waste. One known toilet, U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,602, uses a separate urinal bowl that is flushed by water under a gravity pressure head in the reservoir tank of the toilet. That apparatus requires the water in the tank to remain at a typically high level in order for the urinal flush system to operate. The system will not operate if the user desires to significantly reduce the amount of water used to flush the main bowl. Additionally, this system requires a pair of separate flush handles and cannot be retrofit onto existing toilets.
The above problems are largely overcome by my co-pending application Ser. No. 994,354, which relates to a urinal assembly that is flushed using incoming service line pressure. Although that invention teaches a number of advantages, it also requires the use of a relatively intricate mechanical valve mechanism to interconnect the urinal assembly with the source of incoming service line water. I have recognized that the need exists for an improved, simpler valve mechanism that operates electrically. I have further recognized that the operation of my urinal assembly will be facilitated considerably if the valve interconnecting the incoming service line and the urinal assembly is located outside of the toilet tank.